Jewel lifted her gaze to Emperor Hexion, slowly, reverently, like a priestess gazing upon her god.
Her features were soft, almost luminous beneath the abyssal glow, lashes lowered as though burdened by sorrow. Yet the faint curve of her lips betrayed something far more dangerous than grief.
"Hexi," she murmured, her voice gentle enough to soothe a maddened beast, "he is still so young."
The words were tender. Her tone was delicate.
But those eyes gleamed with a quiet delight, a hidden thrill that only Hexion could perceive.
Hexion's fingers tightened imperceptibly.
How many had been deceived by that face? How many demons had burned because of that voice?
"You speak of age," Hexion replied softly, stepping closer. "Yet you taught him cruelty before he learned mercy."
Jewel tilted her head, pale hair cascading like silk. A single tear gathered at the corner of her eye, perfect, shimmering, utterly false.
"Is it a sin," she whispered, "to gift our Xati curiosity?"
She reached out, her fingers brushing Hexion's sleeve. The contact was intimate, reverent, possessive.
"Or do you fear," she continued, smiling faintly, "that he resembles me too much?"
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to still.
Hexion laughed, low and dangerous, and caught her wrist, pulling her close. His grip was not gentle, yet she did not resist. Instead, she leaned into him, her forehead nearly touching his chest, as though seeking comfort from the very executioner.
"You are cruel," he murmured, lips close to her ear. "Crueler than any demon I have conquered."
The Council of Elders, pale and trembling, finally found their voices.
"Y-Your Majesty," one of them stammered, dropping to his knees, "the Abyss is no ordinary punishment. Even sovereign demons fear its madness. Prince Xati, your own blood, will not survive it."
Another elder followed, desperation staining his dignity.
"We beg you to reconsider! The little prince may perish or worse… go mad."
Their emperor was already feared for his madness, how could they allow his offspring to descend into the same abyss of unreason?
A suffocating silence followed.
Emperor Hexion turned slowly.
The air thickened, pressing down upon their spines until several elders collapsed outright.
"Go mad?" he repeated calmly.
His lips curved, not into a smile, but into something far more terrifying.
"If you are so deeply concerned," he said, voice velvet-smooth, "then you may accompany him."
The elders froze.
One by one, they recoiled, hands scrambling against marble, robes dragging as they crawled backward in sheer terror. Not a single one dared meet his gaze again.
Jewel watched the display with serene amusement, her eyes shining like a saint carved from moonlight and sin.
"How thoughtful," she sighed softly. "They care so deeply."
Emperor Hexion glanced at her. "You mock them."
She smiled sweet, radiant, divine. "I adore you when you are decisive, Hexi."
Below them, the Abyss howled.
Again he lifted Xati once more, his expression turning glacial.
"Hexi… will you show mercy to Xati?" Jewel suddenly pleaded, her voice trembling with heartbreak as she reached out, desperate to pull Xati back into her arms. "If you are dissatisfied, then let Jewel take the abyss in his place. This is all my fault, do not blame our little Xati."
Emperor Hexion did not relent. Instead, he lifted Xati higher, dark mist coiling around the little prince like living chains, binding him tightly as though the abyss itself had already claimed him.
"Ugly demon, put me down!" Xati shrieked, kicking helplessly. "You're the one who deserves punishment! You're mad! You always imprison Empress Mother!"
Jewel collapsed to her knees. The sight of her, broken, pleading, could have shattered even a demon's restraint.
"Please, don't do this, Hexi! You were the one who wanted him in the first place! Could it be that you no longer love Jewel?" Her voice cracked, hysteria bleeding through her desperation. "Jewel will atone for her sins... Jewel will do anything so that Hexi will love her again!"
Before he could answer, Jewel sprang to her feet and ran toward the abyss, intent on throwing herself into its endless void.
Prince Xati sobbed harder, screaming curses at his own father, his cries echoing through the vast hall.
In the next instant, Emperor Hexion flung Xati away, not toward the abyss, but toward the assembled palace elders. His voice rang cold and absolute.
"Punish him as you see fit."
Relief swept through the elders.
Hexion seized Jewel by the arm and vanished with her behind the palace, into the forbidden Crimson Forest, the place she had always been confined to, and always returned to.
Did he take pleasure in punishing her whenever she brought calamity upon herself?
No.
More than anyone else, it was he who suffered most when he saw her wounded, screaming, broken by pain.
Yet Jewel remained trapped in a vicious cycle of inflicting suffering upon others and upon herself, again and again, as though ruin were her chosen refuge.
It was not that she failed to learn. She did not even attempt to hide her crimes, but welcomed them, deliberately inviting destruction upon herself.
"Are you not going to stop?" Emperor Hexion roared, his fury shaking the forest. "This entire forest is yours to toy with for eternity! Even if you remained here for centuries, you would not finish staining it crimson!"
Jewel blinked, tilting her head in innocent confusion.
"But… that is not what I want."
Veins bulged at Hexion's temples. His aura surged, violent, unrestrained, yet it deliberately curved away from her, as though he feared harming her with his rage alone.
"You do not know what you want," he sneered. "And stop pretending you care for Xati. You do not love anyone, not even yourself. Do you think I have not seen through you?" His voice dropped, trembling with restrained agony. "You know you cannot die, so you delight in testing my patience again and again. You know that your punishment is my suffering."
He stepped closer, eyes burning.
"Jewel… is tormenting me your greatest pleasure?"
She shook her head in disbelief. "How could you say that, Hexi? Jewel loves you more than anything- "
"Enough of your lies!" Hexion snapped, his voice raw with pain. There was no warmth in her eyes, no remorse, no sincerity and that truth wounded him more deeply than any blade. "For your crimes, you are sentenced to the Eighth Level of Prison."
Horror flooded Jewel's face.
The Eighth Level was a lake of hellfire, ravenous black flames that devoured demons so completely not even bone remained. She could not die… which meant she would endure agony without end.
She opened her mouth to protest, but knights emerged from the shadows, led by Paris Helle. Without ceremony, they seized her and dragged her away.
Emperor Hexion turned his back.
He dared not look at her again, afraid that her deception, her familiar fragility, would weaken his resolve.
Yet even as she vanished, despair crashed into him like a tidal wave.
~
In the end, Prince Xati's punishment mirrored his crime.
His greatest fears were given form.
In that dim chamber, Emperor Hexion became his nightmare: silent, omnipresent, watching from the shadows.
Prince Xati trembled, swinging wildly between terror and hatred, often collapsing into sobs, screaming for his Empress Mother to save him.
Emperor Hexion could not bear Jewel's imprisonment for long. By the next full moon, he ordered her release, yet confined her within the palace walls.
It was not long after that when the news arrived:
The Empress's palace had burned to the ground.
This time, Jewel did not feign ignorance. She smiled, coquettish, arrogant and declared she desired a new palace, built from her own blood.
Did she wish to bleed herself into oblivion?
But since no demons had been harmed, he turned a blind eye. He issued no punishment, only summoned the palace mages and asked whether her grotesque desire could be fulfilled.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the demon realm did not descend into chaos under Hexion's rule. Despite his volatile moods, terrifying presence, and whispered madness, he had not abandoned his sovereignty.
Most importantly, he had never shielded the Empress from her crimes, nor spared Prince Xati from consequence.
---
Another full moon rose. And Prince Xati was released.
It was said that the little prince had been tamed at last, that he had learned his lesson and even vowed to devote himself to cultivating his orb serpents.
Emperor Hexion doubted it profoundly.
Xati was born of his essence and Jewel's blood. From him, the child inherited an unwavering fixation upon Jewel; yet as Xati grew, that devotion twisted into rivalry, an unspoken competition with his own father for his mother's attention.
And from Jewel, he inherited something far more troubling.
Scheming. Destruction. A talent for courting catastrophe.
Tamed? Unlikely.
As Emperor Hexion had anticipated, it was not long before a palace mage arrived in haste, reporting that the little prince had caused hundreds of Obsidian Cerberus to fall ill, using them as living subjects to test the abilities of his orb serpents.
Emperor Hexion's fury erupted. He swore then and there that this time, he would consign that abomination to the abyss.
Cerberus were as common as stones in the demon realm, but Obsidian Cerberus were another matter entirely. They were elite beasts, painstakingly trained to guard the Barrier Gate against the Light Realm, preventing demons from crossing over and keeping those sanctimonious charlatans from intruding into his dominion.
Yet the report did not end there.
Alongside the outrage came shocking news: Prince Xati had been injured.
It was revealed that after corralling the Obsidian Cerberus, the little prince had gone on to provoke Rougeziel, the Emperor's own horse.
Unfortunately, Rougeziel was no ordinary beast. Even high-ranking demons hesitated before daring to offend it. Its hooves sparked with searing azure fire, and its mane burned with living crimson flame.
Witnesses swore that the little prince had been trampled without mercy, nearly set ablaze beneath its wrath.
When Emperor Hexion heard this, he fell silent.
For a brief moment, the court feared the storm to come.
Then he laughed.
Mad, unrestrained laughter echoed through the hall.
Forget the injury.
That little nuisance must be burning alive with humiliation, defeated not by him, not even by a demon, but by a mere horse.